IT'S WEIRD SOMETIMES
by Paige M. Carter
Summary: Sara and Greg surprise each other on Chrismas Eve


Title: It's Weird Sometimes.

Author: Paige Sipowicz

Fandom: CSI

Pairing: Greg/Sara.

Rating: PG

Spoilers: A small one for Grave Danger'

Category: Romance, Holiday fic

Summary: Sara and Greg surprise each other at the Secret Santa get-

together.

Warning: Sap!

Archive: Just tell me.

Disclaimer: I don't own em, don't sue. Forever's As Far As I'll

Go' is sung by Alabama and is owned by whomever owns it.

Feedback: Constructive Criticism welcome. walked into the briefing room, a happy smile on his face, his year had been going great; he was a CSI-1, everyone in the Crime Lab were being nicer to him, and the best part was that he was in the middle of a relationship with the girl of his dreams, Sara Sidle. Greg smiled to himself, if anyone had told him at the beginning of the year that he would be celebrating Christmas with Sara as his girlfriend, he would have laughed them out of the building. But after they had found Nick buried in that glass box, Sara had shown up on Greg's doorstep. During their conversation, Sara had told him

that Nick's predicament had gotten her thinking about regrets and not waiting for Grissom to notice that she wanted to be with him and finally seeing what had been in front of her the whole time she had been chasing Grissom. Then she had wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him long and hard. Then they'd looked at each other and smiled.

Since then, they'd become even closer and though no one at work knew about their relationship, he and Sara were very happy. In fact, Greg was thinking about taking their relationship to the next level, but he wasn't sure of how to do that without scaring her off.

As he sat down, he noticed Sara sitting across from him, her dark eyes met his over the rim of her coffee cup and they shared their secret smile that said I love you' better than words. Their silent communion was interrupted when Grissom and Catherine came in, Grissom holding a baseball cap in one hand.

"Hey Gris, what's with the hat?" Nick asked.

"It's Secret Santa time again. Again, no cheating folks." He

reached in and pulled out a name, then handed the hat to Catherine who then passed the hat to Nick who passed it to Sara until the hat had made its way around the table. "Okay, everyone, that's it. See you tomorrow."

As they walked out of the office, Greg looked down at his name and had a hard time not grinning from ear to ear, he had pulled Sara's name. He bit back his grin and looked around, he had just found the solution to his romantic problem.

Sara frowned at her name, Grissom. She sighed, last year, she would have jumped at the chance to get a present for her boss, but since she'd started dating Greg, she had stopped mourning the fact that Grissom only thought of her as a colleague, he and Catherine were married and very happy. She frowned, she had really wanted to pull Greg's name, she had a big surprise for him.

Suddenly, Sara heard Warrick and Nick talking "Man, I got Greg again." Warrick groaned. Nick smiled, "What's the problem, you got Greg last year, you said he was the easiest person." Sara's heart beat faster as a plan began to form in her mind. She started to follow her two friends, hoping to catch Warrick.

"Greg was easy to buy for last year. But since he's become a CSI, he's mainly worked with Sara, and when we do work together, he hardly talks about video games. So, I have no idea what he wants." That did it, Sara made her move.

"Hey, Warrick?" Warrick turned around to face the brunette CSI.

"Yeah. What's up Sara?"

"I just heard what you said, and I was wondering if you would be willing to trade me. I know what Greg wants."

Warrick's eyebrows rose, "YOU know what Greg wants for Christmas?"

Sara tried not to smile at Warrick's disbelieving tone. "Yeah.

Greg and I have been working together a lot since the split and so we talk more, and I know exactly what to get him." She saw that Warrick was still resisting and gave him her sweetest smile, the one that Greg said always made him melt.

Warrick thought about it and then handed Sara his slip of

paper, "Here. Have fun."

Sara grinned and handed him her slip "Thanks Warrick." And with that, she quickly walked to her car, a happy smile plastered to her face, leaving Warrick to wonder what the hell was going on.

Catherine walked into the men's department of Macy's and looked around, she had pulled Nick's name, and knew exactly what to get him. She had seen some nice chinos, and Nick had been saying he needed a new pair. She rifled through the pants until she found a nice black pair that was Nick's size. Happy that her Secret Santa task was finished so soon, Catherine grabbed the pants and headed for the check-out.

Nick walked into Best Buy, his plan for Secret Santa was the same since he'd gotten Warrick again this year. He went right to the check-out and got a gift card.

Warrick walked into the Natural History Museum and up to the ticket counter.

"Can I help you sir?" The woman said sweetly.

"Yeah. I'm wanting to buy three passes to the bug exhibit coming in March."

The woman nodded and rang up the passes. "Here you go sir."

Warrick smiled, "Thanks." He smiled as he walked out, that had been easier than he'd thought.

Grissom walked into the jewelry store, the same one he'd bought Catherine's engagement and wedding rings, he had seen a beautiful locket that he knew Catherine would love to have. He smiled at the owner, "Hello Mrs. Jameson."

Mrs. Jameson smiled, "Hello Mr. Grissom. What can I do for you?"

Gil smiled, "I'm wanting to pick out a locket for Catherine, I'm going to put a picture of myself and Lindsey in it."

Mrs. Jameson smiled, "I have just the thing, Mr. Grissom." She went into the back of the store and was gone for several minutes before she returned with a beautiful gold locket with tiny diamond flecks in it. "Is this what you want?"

Gil smiled, "It's perfect, Mrs. Jameson. Thank you." The old

woman smiled at him as she rang up the locket and wrapped it for him. Gil smiled as he left, Cath was going to love this.

Sara crept into her and Greg's apartment, she wanted to be sure that he wasn't home so that she could take out his present for Secret Santa. "Greg? Greg, I'm home." She walked around the apartment and was relieved when she realized that he wasn't home.

She sat down on the sofa and rooted around in her bags until she pulled out the sack from the local mall. She smiled as she lifted out the tiny items she'd purchased, she'd been hesitant to do this, but her appointment today had confirmed her hopes. She and Greg had never discussed this possibility, but she also knew that Greg was a wonderful, caring man and this would make them both so happy. She smiled as she wrapped the package, she almost couldn't wait for the Secret Santa party.

Greg headed to the DNA lab, Mia had gotten a transfer and the new girl, Sonya, called Sonny, and him were getting to be pretty good friends. He popped his head in and smiled his most charming smile.

"Hey Sonny, you got a minute?"

The pretty DNA tech smiled at him, "For you Greg? Always."

Greg smiled as he walked into his old lab, "You still do that calligraphy thing?"

Sonny nodded, "Sure do. Why?"

Greg reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, "Well, I pulled Sara in the Secret Santa drawing and I've got the perfect present for her, but I want to make it special. So I got the words to her favorite love song and I was wondering if you would be kind enough to write it out in calligraphy for me, I'll pay you for the supplies."

Sonny nodded, "Sure Greg. Give me the song." Greg handed her the paper. She looked at it and gave him a skeptical look, " 'Forever's As Far As I'll Go' by Alabama?"

Greg shrugged, "I know. It doesn't sound like a song she'd like, but she loves this song. Please?"

Sonny smiled, "You got it Greg." Greg smiled as he left, this would definitely be a Christmas to remember.

Christmas Eve, all of the CSIs except for Greg were gathered in the break room waiting for the Secret Santa party to get started. A small Christmas tree sat in the corner with the presents underneath it. Grissom and Catherine walked in.

"Everyone here?"

"Everyone but Greg." Nick said, "He's back at his crime scene

wrapping things up."

Grissom hesitated, "Well, I'd hate to do this without him, but we've got the Lab Christmas Party shortly."

Catherine bit her lip as she thought, "Why don't we do Secret Santa now and when Greg gets back, we'll have the party for our shift."

Everyone nodded, and Grissom picked up a present, "This is for Nick."

Nick opened his present and smiled when he saw the chinos he needed and in his size. "Thanks."

Gil reached for the next present, "Warrick."

Warrick smiled when he saw the gift certificate, he had a pretty good idea who gave him that.

Grissom unwrapped his gift and found passes to a bug exhibit at the local Natural History Museum that was coming in the spring.

Catherine smiled when she saw her gift and gave Gil a long sweet kiss that made the younger CSIs groan like kids having to watch their parents kiss.

Finally, it was Sara's turn, Grissom handed her a medium sized box. She opened it to find a large piece of paper with some kind of fancy writing on it. Her brow furrowed as she lifted the page and looked at it.

"What is it?" Catherine asked.

"I'm not sure. It's got some writing on it, but I can't read it."

She handed the paper to Catherine who put her glasses on and looked at it.

"It looks like Calligraphy. It's artistic writing. It's very pretty. Someone went to a lot of trouble to write this out for you."

"Could you read it for me?" Sara asked sheepishly, "I can barely read it."

Catherine nodded obligingly and put her glasses back on and began to read.

_" I'll admit I could feel it _

_The first time that we touched _

_And the look in your eyes _

_Said you felt as much _

_But I'm not a man _

_Who falls too easily _

_It's best that you know _

_Where you stand with me _

_I will give you my heart _

_Faithful and true _

_And all the love it can hold _

_That's all I can do _

_Cause I've thought about _

_How long I'll love you _

_And it's only fair that you know _

_Forever's as far as I'll go _

_When there's age around my eyes _

_And gray in your hair _

_And it only takes a touch _

_To recall the love we've shared _

_I won't take it for granted _

_You'll know my love is true _

_Cause each night in your arms _

_I will whisper to you. _

_I will give you my heart _

_Faithful and true _

_And all the love it can hold _

_That's all I can do _

_Cause I've thought about _

_How long I'll love you _

_And it's only fair that you know _

_Forever's as far as I'll go _

_Forever's as far _

_As I'll go.'" _

Catherine stopped reading and looked at Sara, "That's beautiful Sara. You don't just have a Secret Santa, you have a secret admirer."

Sara felt herself blushing, she knew who her Secret Santa was, only one person knew that was her favorite love song. She looked in the box again and spotted a much smaller box that had been hidden underneath the paper. She gently lifted the much smaller box and opened it and gasped.

"What is it?" Catherine asked.

Sara couldn't speak, she was literally speechless. Catherine got up and walked behind her to take a look and then she gasped too.

Nestled inside the black velvet was an exquisite diamond ring. It comprised of three diamonds, the center one was square cut, the other two were smaller, but also square cut, but all three stones were set on a simple platinum band. It was the most beautiful thing Sara had ever seen. It was exactly the type of ring she would have picked out for herself.

Cath managed to recover, "Oh my god! That is beautiful!" She leaned closer to inspect the ring more carefully.

"What is it?" Gil asked, then his eyes widened when he saw the ring.

"It's what I got from my Secret Santa." Sara said for an explanation.

" 'Santa' has excellent taste." Catherine commented, holding up the box to get a better look at the ring.

"Wow." Warrick said, taking a good look at the ring, "That is a

cool chunk of ice."

"Yeah." Nick agreed, handing the ring back to Sara, "Your 'Santa' must've laid down a huge chunk of dough for that ring."

Catherine looked at Sara, "You have any idea who sent that?"

Sara shook her head, hoping no one noticed she was lying. She couldn't believe that Greg would spend as much money as he probably spent on this ring. Despite what everyone thought, Greg was very careful with his money and saved every penny he could.

After a few minutes, Gil cleared his throat, "Well, everyone, back to work, we've got the party in a few hours, so let's get our cases done." With that everyone walked out of the break room, all quietly discussing who they thought was the person who sent Sara the ring. Most people thought that maybe Sara's secret boyfriend that they'd all heard about had convinced Greg to put the ring in as his gift.

Greg trudged into the locker room, this case had not gone as planned. He'd gone back to the scene to gather enough evidence to nail his suspect only to find his suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head complete with a suicide note confessing to the crime. Brass had helped him out with scene and had phoned Grissom to tell him the news. Even though Brass and Grissom told him not to worry about it, Greg couldn't help but feel lousy. A case going unsolved really got under his skin. He'd told Brass as much, and Brass had told him that that was normal, he felt the same way a lot of times. Greg sighed, he could hear the sounds of the Lab Christmas Party going on, but he'd rather just go home and go to bed, but he and Sara had come in the same car, and she'd need a ride home. He sighed as he entered the break room, he could see that the graveshift had already done Secret Santa. His heart started beating faster when he realized that Sara had gotten his gift. He imagined what her reaction was. He sat on the couch that sat in the break room; he really didn't feel like sitting in a party, he was tired and the way his case had gone had put him in a bad mood. He leaned his head back against the couch, maybe if he closed his eyes for a few minutes, he'd feel better. He was asleep in a few minutes, and didn't hear the footsteps coming his way.

Sara had been sitting in the Christmas Party, scanning the room for signs of Greg. She couldn't wait to answer the implied question that had been in the song and the ring. She had no doubt about what she would tell him, especially once he opened the gift she had gotten him.

Catherine noticed Sara's expression as she looked around the room and smiled, "Looking for someone?"

Sara smiled, "Yeah. I'm just wondering where Greg's at. He said he was coming as soon as he got back from his crime scene."

Catherine shrugged, "Maybe he got held up by something." She began looking around the room too until she spotted Brass coming in the door. "There's Brass. Maybe he could tell us." The two women made their way over to where the captain stood. "Hey, Brass. You seen Greg anywhere?"

Brass looked at them for a minute, "Yeah, we came back here together. He seemed kind of down, because of the way the case ended."

Catherine frowned, "What happened?"

Brass sighed, "We went back to the crime scene to get this piece of evidence we were both sure would nail this SOB to the wall, we get there, and find the guy dead on the floor, suicide."

Sara and Catherine gasped, "Oh no."

Brass nodded, "We got the scene together, I called Gil. And he told Greg to come back here and not to worry about it."

"Where's Greg now?" Sara asked.

"He was headed for the locker room last I knew." Brass commented. Before he could continue, Sara was headed for the locker room.

Sara walked into the locker room, "Greg?" No answer. She walked over to his locker, he wasn't there, and she couldn't hear the water running so he wasn't in the shower. She frowned for a minute and then began heading for the break room. She entered the break room and smiled when she realized the object of her desire was sleeping on the couch. She smiled as she watched him, Greg looked so innocent and sweet when he was asleep. She almost didn't want to wake him, but she wanted to give him his present. She walked over and gently kissed him on the cheek. Greg stirred and opened his dark brown eyes that always seemed so much younger and more innocent when he was first waking up than at any other time. His dark eyes focused on Sara and he smiled.

"Hey, Beautiful." He said, his voice warm and husky with sleep.

Sara smiled, trying hard not to jump on him. She loved it when he talked to her with that voice. "Hey yourself, Handsome." She kissed him on the lips. He responded instantly, gently pulling Sara onto his lap, deepening the kiss until Sara felt Greg's hand trying to slip under her blouse.

"Greg. Greg, we can't. We're still at work." Greg pulled back and smiled.

"Oh, yeah." He kissed her again and patted her knee, holding her close to him.

Sara smiled as she snuggled into his strong arms. She loved these quiet moments between her and Greg, when there was no talking, just the two of them.

After a few minutes, Sara remembered the present that was waiting for Greg under the tree. "You know, you should open your Secret Santa present."

Greg smiled, "Okay." Sara got up and grabbed the gift from under the tree. "Here." She handed him the gift and sat next to him so she could see his reaction to her gift.

Greg opened the box, inside were tiny baby clothes; booties,

onesies, jackets, hats, bonnets. At the bottom, was a little onesie that said If you think I'm cute, you should see my daddy.' Underneath that were several photos that looked like sonograms, on the lower right-hand corner was the patient's name and it said 'S.Sidle.' His eyes widened and he looked into his girlfriend's beautiful face. "Are you serious?"

Sara nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm three months pregnant."

Greg sat there a look of pure wonder on his face as the implications of what she'd told him hit him. Then he smiled and jumped up, taking Sara with him. "We're having a baby!" He lifted her into his arms and twirled her around the room. Sara squealed with laughter.

Finally, Greg set her back on her own two feet and kissed her long and hard. "Does anyone else know?" Sara shook her head, "Not yet. I wanted you to know first." Greg kissed her again.

"We'll tell them tomorrow at Cath's. Right now, I wanna take you home and celebrate." With that, he and Sara quickly exited the building.

"Hi! Merry Christmas." Lindsey called out as she opened the door for Sara and Greg. They smiled and returned the greetings, coming in the door each carrying a dish for the Christmas celebration that the graveshift invariably had every Christmas.

"Just bring the food in here!" Catherine's voice called out from the kitchen. Sara and Greg stripped off their coats and handed them to Lindsey. Greg took the vegetarian lasagna from Sara and took his own lasagna, "I'll take these." Greg said, heading towards the kitchen.

Sara laughed, "Oh no you don't. If I don't keep an eye on this lasagna of mine, it'll mysteriously end up in the trash." Greg grimaced at being caught and let Sara carry her dish into the kitchen.

Catherine smiled at them as they entered the kitchen. "Merry Christmas!" She hugged both of them, helping them find places for their dishes. "What's this?"

Sara smiled, "Well, you know I don't eat meat, so this is vegetarian lasagna, and Greg doesn't like turkey and doesn't eat red meat that often, so he brought pork lasagna."

Catherine smiled graciously, "Okay. You're right. I forgot. Good thing I said bring a dish." Sara stayed in the kitchen, while Greg was shoved back into the living room where Grissom, Warrick, Nick, Brass, and Doc Robbins were sitting, watching football. All the men greeted him as he sat down on the sofa.

A little while later, the whole group sat around Gil and Cath's

dining room table, enjoying the dinner and each other's company. Sara was sitting across from Brass who noticed the diamond ring Sara was wearing. "Wow, Sara. That is a nice piece of ice. Where'd you get that?"

Sara smile and stole a quick glance at Greg who was sitting a little further down the table, talking to Nick.

"My Secret Santa gave me that." She said, holding out her hand so that the hardened detective could take a look.

Doc Robbins leaned over for a look, " 'Santa' has good taste. That ring costs several hundred dollars at least." Sara smiled and took her hand back and had just begun eating when Catherine looked at Greg.

"Hey Greg, we missed you last night. You were gone when we came back after the party. We didn't get to see what you got from Secret Santa."

Brass chuckled, "Yeah Sanders. Santa seems to be pretty generous this year. Sara got a diamond ring, what'd you get?"

Greg glanced over at Sara and the two shared a brief smile before he turned to Jim and smiled mysteriously, "I gotta wait a few months for mine, Jim."

Brass seemed shocked, "You have to wait for yours?"

"Yep. I have to wait six months for my Secret Santa gift." The group seemed to ponder over that, until Sara stood up, going to the kitchen, Doc Robbins watched her for a moment.

"How far along are you, Sara?"

Sara spun around and gave Robbins a surprised look. "Excuse me?"

"How far along in your pregnancy are you?"

Everyone turned to look at Sara, who looked at Greg again until he nodded.

"Three months. I'm due in mid-June."

Everyone jumped up and rushed to hug Sara. With the exception of Greg. After everyone had hugged Sara, Catherine noticed that Greg was still sitting at the table, watching everything with a smile.

"How come you're not celebrating, Greg?"

Greg smiled his mysterious smile, "I knew about it last night."

It took a minute for the implications of Greg's statement to sink in. Catherine threw her arms around him. "Oh my God! Congratulations!" Then she pulled back and lightly smacked his chest, "I can't believe you managed to keep this a secret!"

Greg laughed and hugged her back, "Sorry. We didn't want to cause the shift anymore trouble with Ecklie." Sara stood beside him, taking his hand in hers.

"When's the wedding?" Nick asked, after the rest of the crew had congratulated Greg and Sara.

"New Year's." Greg said, squeezing Sara's hand and smiled. "You're all invited."

The whole crew spent the rest of the day celebrating not only

Christmas, but the wedding of two of their crew members.

The wedding went off without a hitch, Sara and Greg were married at Catherine and Grissom's house. Nick was the best man and Sonny was the maid of honor, while Lindsey got to be a flower girl, and Grissom walked Sara down the aisle. The whole wedding was beautiful and simple and the whole graveshift was there and celebrated the love that had bloomed under their noses.

Six months later...

Grissom and the crew were pacing the break room, trying not to jump at the slightest sound. They had gotten word earlier that day that Sara had gone into labor. Greg was with her at the hospital and had sworn that he would call as soon as the baby was born. Sara had had an uneventful pregnancy and the whole crew was looking forward to welcoming the newest member of their little family.

Suddenly, Sonya, who had become an integral part of the team, felt her phone vibrate. She looked at the caller ID and gestured for everyone to keep quiet. "Hello? Greg? What's the good word?" She paused and gestured for Nick to hand her a piece of paper. "Go ahead." She nodded as she wrote down weight, length, time of birth, sex, and name. Then Greg said something that caught her by surprise, "You're kidding?" Then she began to write something else down. "Okay. I got it. How's Sara? Good. Okay, I'll let you go. Tell Sara hi."

She hung up the phone and turned to face the anxious group. "Okay folks, we've got twins!" Everyone looked at each other, shocked. "First one is a 7 pound, 8 oz, 21 inch baby boy, born at 8:31 p.m. and he's named Nicholas Grissom Sanders." She looked at the baby's namesake, "I know Grissom isn't your first name, but Greg said that neither of them could picture themselves naming their child Gilbert." The whole crew laughed. "Then, we've got a 7 pound, 5 oz, 20 inch baby girl, born at 8:45 p.m. and her name is Catherine Rose." Catherine pulled a bottle of champagne out of the refrigerator and the crew celebrated the two new additions to their family.

At the hospital, Greg hung up the phone and went into Sara's room. She was sitting up in bed, holding their son and daughter in her arms.

"Well, everyone knows." Greg said, quietly closing the door, and heading for the bed where his entire world sat.

Sara smiled and looked down at their children, "Oh Greg, they're so perfect."

Greg smiled as he took little Catherine Rose from Sara and sat next to her on the bed. "She looks just like you."

Sara smiled, "Yeah? Well, little Nicholas has your eyes." They sat there holding their children, trying to absorb all the changes that they had gone through over the past year.

"It's hard to believe." Sara commented after a few minutes.

Greg looked at her, "What's hard to believe?"

Sara smiled, "That around this time last year, you and I weren't dating. We were friends, but we weren't dating. Now we're married with twins and very happy. It's hard to believe."

Greg smiled, "You know, if I didn't know that Nick would kill me for this, I'd almost thank that psycho that buried him alive in that box. Otherwise, this may have never happened."

Sara laughed as Greg leaned over and kissed her long and sweet. It was weird, but sometimes, the worst things could turn out for the best.


End file.
